


The Next Step

by lasairfhiona



Series: Long Distance [4]
Category: CSI: Miami, CSI: NY
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-27
Updated: 2010-11-27
Packaged: 2017-10-13 10:11:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/136104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lasairfhiona/pseuds/lasairfhiona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Calleigh goes back to New York for work and gets the bonus of spending time with Don</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Next Step

Calleigh climbed the steps to Horatio's office. It had been a long time since she had gone there willingly and an even longer time since she had been "summoned' to Horatio's office.  There were times she missed the old days when they could sit around his desk and really talk. She missed the Horatio that had been her friend..  "You wanted to see me?" she asked as she walked in and stopped in front of his desk, resting her finger tip on the edge.

"Yeah..." Horatio said as he handed her a folder and an airline ticket. "NYPD crime lab," he said when she raised her eyebrow at the plane ticket. "You've been requested to assist in Ballistics training for new officers and CSIs."

"I was just there in December for the Ballistics seminar. The New York lab is second only to Quantico. Why request me?" she said confused.

Horatio shrugged. "Mac Taylor asked for you specifically.  You need to be there Monday by noon. Can you get your desk cleaned off by then?"

"Overtime?" she questioned knowing how much she had setting on her desk and how long it would take her to clear it off her desk.

"Authorized. I'll try to keep any new cases off your desk so you don't have to worry about any pending cases."

Calleigh nodded, taking the plane ticket and the file folder from Horatio.  She was confused about why she had been requested but she wasn't about to look at gift horse in the mouth when it came to going to New York. Especially if it meant she would be able to see Don and spend time with him.  Despite daily emails, text messages, and phone calls, she hadn't seen Don since his visit at Christmas. It seemed the new year had also brought crime sprees in both of their cities and neither one of them had been able to get away.  She was tempted to call Don but decided to wait until tonight so they could talk freely for now she had a stack of files and ballistic evidence to go through.

zzzzz

Calleigh was on the early flight out of Miami to La Guardia. She used the time on the flight and the layover in Atlanta to read over the file Mac had sent one more time.  By the time she hit New York, she was completely up to speed on everything that would be expected of her while she was there.  The text message asking if she could catch a cab as everyone was still tied up at an early morning call out wasn't unexpected and had her smiling. Crime didn't sleep in Miami, no reason it should in the Big Apple. She lucked out with a cabbie who was entertaining as she received what she was sure was the scenic route to the crime lab and for once she didn't mind being taken for a ride both literally and figuratively.  It gave her time to look at the city and think about the other reason she had for wanting to be in New York.  Don.  They made great headways in the spending time and getting to know one another department when Don was in Miami at Christmas. She looked forward to continuing their relationship and taking it to the next step.

The cabbie informed her when they were a few blocks away and she put in a call to Mac to let him know she'd arrived and was close by.  Thankfully Mac had been able to break away and return to the lab in order to be able to meet her. 

Danny however was the one to greet her as soon as she walked into the lobby and walked her through security where Mac was waiting on the other side.  After a warm greeting with both of them, Calleigh asked as they headed toward the elevator bank. "Okay, why am I here?  Your lab is better than Miami's and between you and Stella when it comes to ballistics..."

"But we don't have you," Mac stated matter of factly.  After all she had made a name for herself as one of the top ballistics experts in the country.

"Maybe we want to wow you so you'll transfer here," Danny added with a laugh and a grin.

"Danny does have a point," Mac agreed, "If I thought I could persuade you to leave Horatio I would have offered you a job a long time ago, but seriously we really do need your assistance," he added as they rode the elevator up to the labs.  "We have credentials for you and after the seminar we'll take you to get checked into your hotel," Mac concluded.

As they rounded the corner, Don came out of one of the labs.  "That won't be necessary. She already has a place to stay."

"You do?" Mac asked looking between her and Don.

"I do?" she questioned, not taking her eyes off Don as he closed the distance between them. She didn't want to presume she would be staying with him when she hadn't even had a chance to talk to him about her trip.

"With me," Don informed them as he stopped in front of her and resisted the urge to pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless.

Calleigh smiled and looked back at Mac, "I guess I do."

"I told ya, Stell, hand it over," Danny said to Stella as she came up behind Don.

"Mac you knew?" Stella surmised, looking at her friend and seeing the look on his face as she ignored Danny's outstretched hand and wiggling fingers. 

Mac shrugged with a smile not confirming or denying her accusation. It wasn't his story to tell so to speak. He was sure that if Don and Calleigh had wanted them to know about their relationship before now, he would have told them.  Although that was a moot point now since the cat was out of the bag about their relationship.

zzzzz

"Ready to go?" Don asked as Calleigh came out of the gun range after all the rookies left.

Looping her arm through Don's he answered, "Yeah, it's been a long day."

"And here I thought being in a room filled with guns and men using them would be right up your alley," Don teased, having heard about her reaction to the NYPD gun locker the first time she saw it.

Calleigh laughed.  "Guns definitely, only *one* man now, and after two days of double shifts and overtime to clear my desk and an early morning flight, I'm tired," she explained with a sigh.

"Well then Chinese, or Thai, take out it is and home," Don decided as they headed to the elevator that would take them to the parking garage.

"Wait! My bags," Calleigh exclaimed, stopping them before the got on the elevator.

"Already in my car," Don told her, urging her forward again.

"Sneaky..."

"You know it," he said with just a little but of pride that made her laugh.

...:::...

"Did you tell Mac about us?" Calleigh asked as they cuddled up on the sofa, the coffee table littered with their empty Chinese food containers and a Rangers game playing in the background.

"Might have," he answered in a noncommittal way.

"Why?" she was curious as to why he'd tell Mac and not Danny or Stella.

"Mac was talking to Stella about being shorthanded for the ballistics thing and I might have followed Mac and mentioned your name to him seeing as how he already knew you and all. When he asked how I'd know you'd be willing to come to New York, I might have told him about us," he told her as he played with her hair. "Is that okay they know ?"

"They are a good group of people. I know Mac but I'm really looking forward to getting to know them better," she told him. Her yawn thankfully covered the wistfulness she knew crept into her voice.

"You're tired, why don't we hit the sack," Don said as he stood and took her hand to pull her to her feet a well.  They walked hand in hand to the double glass doors that led to his bedroom.  He stopped in the doorway and pointed, "Bathroom is through there.  There are already towels out for you and a place to hang your toothbrush," he told her suddenly shy but remembering he'd left his toothbrush at her condo.

Calleigh squeezed his hand before letting go. Turning, she headed into the bedroom, hearing Don close the doors behind her. 

The door gave only an illusion of privacy as the sheer curtains only muted his view of her instead of completely blocking it. He saw her pull something from her suit case and then he groaned and turned away as he saw her start to peel her blouse off.  He waited until he heard the bathroom door close and the shower turn on before going in and getting a pair of sweats and t-shirt.

Calleigh came out of the bathroom and found the bed turned down.  Going in search of Don she was surprised to find him making up the sofa. "Don?" she questioned as she walked up to him.

Dropping the pillow, he turned and met her half way. Reaching up he cupped his hand to her cheek before moving it around to the back of her neck and urging her forward so he could kiss her. Backing her up, he didn't break contact with her lips until the reached the bedroom door.

"You don't have to sleep on the sofa," she said softly when he pulled back from the kiss.

"Yeah, I do.  This, us," he said motioning between them, "is too important to screw it up by rushing things," he told her as he caressed her cheek with the back of his hand.

Calleigh turned her head enough to kiss his fingers. She hated that he was right, this was too important to screw up.  Of course it didn't negate the fact she wanted to curl up next to him and fall asleep with her head on his shoulder.  "Okay..." she agreed, "but I would rather sleep curled up next to you."

"God Cal, so do it, but I can't guarantee I'd be able to keep it to just that," Don admitted, taking a step back from her to put a little space between them.  Then he muttered "fuck it," under his breath and reached out to pull Calleigh hard against him, claiming her mouth in a less than gentle kiss, deepening it when he felt her matching his desire.

Finally pulling back, Don took a ragged breath, "Calleigh, please, walk away.  I don't have the strength to do it."

Taking her own deep breath, Calleigh ran her hand down his arm and kissed his palm before turning and walking into the bedroom. She had no idea how she was able to walk away from him.  What she felt for Don eclipsed everything she'd ever felt for anyone3 she'd ever been involved with before.

...:::...

Calleigh woke to the smell of coffee and smiled, Don had learned from his visit to Miami that coffee was the best way to get her functioning on all cylinders in the morning. Stretching, she rolled over and the first thing she saw was Don coming out of the bathroom, fresh from a shower judging by his wet hair and the fact his undershirt clung to his damp body.  "Hey..." she said quietly.

"Hey..." he answered with a smile, leaning down to give her a quick kiss.  Before backing up and reaching for the shirt he'd pulled from the closet and hung on the door knob before his shower. "Coffee's on the stand," he told her pointing to the steaming mug on the night stand next to the bed. "I got a call out, gotta leave early.  Danny lives around the corner so he'll be by to pick up in an hour," he added now reaching for his tie.

Calleigh stood and took the tie from his hands, tieing the knot and patting his chest when he finished.  Don gave her one more kiss before clipping his gun and badge to his belt.  With a wink he was out the door leaving her to ponder why it felt like they had been doing this morning going to work thing forever instead of for the first time.

zzzzz

"Where are we going?" Calleigh asked as Don led her into an out of the way blues club.  This was the second night she'd been out with the group.  Last night she remembered Danny waylaying her as she was heading out of the labs.

 _"You're with us tonight," Danny said coming up behind Calleigh and falling in step with her._

 _"I am?" she asked, looking at him and raising an eyebrow._

 _"Yeah... Flack called, he had to run some leads on that case from this morning, so we're taking you with us for dinner and drinks.  Hopefully he'll be able to join us, if not I have a key and I'll take you home."_

 _"Okay... so where we going?" Calleigh asked as Lindsay joined them._

 _"Sullivan's," Stella answered as she came out of the lab.  "It's a favourite place of ours.   Good food, and pool tables for the boys."_

 _Calleigh laughed at the thought of calling Danny, Mac, Don, and Adam boys.  "Cop bar?"_

 _"No, local corner bar," Mac explained as he came up behind her._

 _"I'm game," she said with a smile.  The more time she spent with the New York lab, the more realized how much her own lab had changed and was now lacking in a lot of ways.  She and Tim were the only one who did anything together outside work._

"You'll see," he said still being secretive about what was so special about this night and this particular club.  "There's Stella," he added pointing to where the other CSI sat at a table in an out of the way corner.

"Stella," Don greeted, as they took their seats next to her.

"You're late," she admonished with a smile as if she knew why they were late.

"My fault, I insisted on going home and changing into comfortable clothes," Calleigh tried to explain.

"Is that what they are calling it these days?" Danny teased coming back from the bar with drinks in his hands and having heard the last past of the conversation.

"Danny!" Calleigh blushed trying to protest but she ended up laughing as Danny quickly moved out of reach of her playful swat. Even though what they were insinuating wasn't completely true, they weren't too far off the mark.  Don had caught her coming from the bathroom with nothing but her bra, panties and one of his striped shirts wrapped around her like a robe but not buttoned...

 _... "See something you like?" she asked with a saucy tone to her voice when she saw Don watching from where he sat on the bed in his t-shirt and dress pants._

 _"Oh yeah..." Don answered motioning her toward him._

 _Calleigh walked slowly toward Don until she stood between his legs. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she leaned down and touched her lips to his. It was just supposed to be a quick kiss but when Don ran his hands up under her shirt and pulled her tight between his legs all bets were off. Their kissed turned demanding as they lost themselves in the slide of their tongues against one other and the feel of bare skin under their hands._

Don just shook his head, refraining from answering Danny and pulled his chair closer to Calleigh. Wrapping an arm around her, he looked to where the stage was and asked Stella, "They start'n soon?"

"Soon," she replied then added, "The bass player seems to be running late."

"That's weird," he commented looking to Stella for an explanation and only seeing her shrug.

"What are you guys up to?" Calleigh asked looking between them and seeing the silent communication that made her wonder what they were up to.  She really hoped they weren't going to do some karaoke thing. She really hated that.

"You'll see..." Lindsay teased echoing Don's words from earlier as she dropped into her seat next to Danny.

The band came on stage without them noticing and once they began to play their group stopped talking for the first few songs, opting to listen to the music.  "They're good," Calleigh commented trying to see the band but unable to due to all the people gathered around to watch and listen. Giving up she leaned against Don while they listened.

"Yeah..." Don said quietly with a smile as he bent to drop a kiss on her cheek, both of them ignoring the "awws..." coming from their friends.

They resumed their conversation after a few songs but would stop periodically to listen as a particular song was played before going back to their conversation.  Much to both Calleigh and Don's relief the conversation shifted and they were no longer the topic of discussion.  Moving on to case stories and lab comparisons instead.  It wasn't until one of the band members introduced a visiting musician that Calleigh turned abruptly, looking toward the stage.  "Is that Mac?" she asked when she heard his distinctive voice.

From the smiles on everyone's face she knew she'd been had and Mac had been on stage playing the entire time.  As the crowd thinned away from the stage she finally saw Mac with this shirt untucked and a bass guitar looking very much lost in the music if the expression on his face was anything to go by.

"He's good.  Does he do this all the time?"

"Every Wednesday time permitting," Stella answered looking over at Mac and smiling at her friend.  "He's done it for years."

"Is it public knowledge?" Calleigh wondered how many people knew how talented the head of the crime lab was.

"Not really, just us," Sid answered, having surprised them by showing up. He motioned to Don who was sitting at the end of the table to help him get another round of drinks for the table.

Stella watched Calleigh as she watched Don walk away.  "You love him don't you?" Stella observed.

Calleigh blushed and ducked her head before looking across the table at Stella and answering, "Yeah, I think I do. It's definitely not casual."

"Good," Danny declared.

"I don't think I've ever seen him this happy," Lindsay added.

Calleigh had a feeling she knew what was coming next after all if it was Tim sitting in front of her with a woman he was serious about she'd be doing the same thing so she decided to beat them to the punch, "And next comes the warning that I better not hurt him.  Right?"

Danny laughed at her boldness and how quickly she pegged what they were about to do.

"Goes without saying," Stella concluded.

"I would never intentionally hurt him," Calleigh reassured them. It actually surprised her it had taken them this long to say something to her.

"Done questioning her intentions," Don asked, his voice having a slight edge to it as he set the mugs of beer mugs down on the table in front of them.

"Flack, man..." Danny tried to cover, holding his hands up.

"Like you wouldn't have done the same thing?" Stella countered knowing full well he would have.  He hadn't left her side the whole time she was in the hospital after Frankie attacked her and he'd questioned her about everyone she dated afterward.

"She's got you there, Flack," Danny commented knowing how protective they all were of Stella, Don and Mac in particular.

Calleigh put her hand on Don's arm to top him from saying anything else.  She knew this kind of thing irritated him when it was turned on him.  "It's okay," she said told him quietly, "I'm actually surprised it took them this long to do it. Quite frankly I was expecting it last night when they had me all to themselves without you."

Stella looked at Calleigh, she was surprised by not only what Calleigh said but also by how well she calmed down Don's impatience with them.  Calleigh could handle their sometimes hot headed detective much the same way she'd learned to handle Mac.

zzzzz

Don was glad he'd given Calleigh her own key to his apartment.  He knew she really wanted to stay home and he had to stay late to cover for another detective. Walking through the door, all the tiredness he was feeling disappeared.  Calleigh was there, waiting for him, he wasn't coming home to an empty apartment and he liked that feeling.

Taking a deep breath, he declared, "Wow... Smells wonderful." Pulling his jacket off, he dropped it over the back of the chair and came around into the kitchen, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her neck.

"Thank you. It’s the least I could do considering the times you cooked dinner for me," Calleigh said as she stirred the tomato sauce into the mixture she had in the deep skillet on the burner.

"You can't compare your cooking to mine," Don protested, he could cook just enough to feed himself but not create an actual meal.

"Whatever, so whatcha making?" he asked taking a spoon and dipping it into the mixture.

"Rustic Spaghetti," she answered as she moved out of the way of the taste he was about to take.

"Mmmm..." he said in appreciation. "What all am I tasting?"

"Bacon, green onions, garlic, fresh basil, sweet peppers," she said rattling off the ingredients.

"How long do I have?" he asked wanting to get out of his suit into something comfortable.

"Fifteen minutes give or take.  It needs to simmer a bit," she answered. "You have time to change," she told him knowing what he wanted to do. Watching him go, she continued to stir the sauce so it didn't stick, and thought about  how normal that moment had felt.

"Hand me the pasta," she requested pointing to the pasta in the bowl sitting on the drain board when Don came back into the kitchen in a pair of loose jeans and a Ranger's shirt

While Calleigh put the finishing touches on dinner, Don set the table and for the hell of it lit the candle she'd added sometime that week. It wasn't until after they brought their dishes to the table and opened the wine that he realized how easily they worked together.  He knew it should surprise him, but it didn't. It was as if they had been doing this for longer than the few days they'd spent together. And after dinner Don cleaned up while Calleigh packed up the leftovers for lunch for both of them the next day. 

Taking their glasses and the reminder of the bottle of wine, they adjourned to the living room to watch a movie.

...:::...

Calleigh fell asleep in Don's arms partway through the movie. When the credits rolled, Don flipped off the DVD player. Lifting Calleigh into his arms, he carried her into the bedroom.  She woke when Don laid her down on the bed.  As he started to pull away, she reached up grabbing his arm, "Don't go," she asked.

"Cal..." he almost begged.

"Don, please," she said pulling him down on the bed. "I think the last few days have shown us we are way past screwing this up," she told him as she caressed his cheek.

"You think?" he asked leaning over to kiss her.

"Yeah, I think." She shifted bringing her hand around behind his neck and urging him back down for another kiss.  "I'm sure about us.  I have a pretty good idea how you feel about me," she whispered against his lips. "And I know how I feel about you."

Settling over her, he rested his weight on his elbows and played with the strands of her hair. "Oh yeah, and how's that," he asked planting a kiss on her nose.

Calleigh laughed.  "Ego needing a little boosting?"

"Boost away baby," he said with another kiss, this time to her forehead.

Reaching up, she ran her fingers down his cheek.  "I love your sense of humor," she started with the 'great personality' stuff most people dreaded just to tease him a bit before she got to the serious stuff.

"That's me, a laugh a minute..."

"I love your sense of honour, and how you look out for those you care about." Stella had told her how Don had taken care of her after Frankie and how protective he still was about her.

There was nothing he could say to counter what she'd said.  He was very protective of the people he cared about.

"You're kinda cute too."

"Just kinda?"

"Would you believe me if I said that between your blue eyes a body to die for that you were sex on legs?" she asked running her hands up and down his back.

He choked at her words, he'd never been described like that before but he knew it wasn't true.  Burying his face in her neck, he couldn't say anything to counter her words. She hadn't seen his scar yet and part of him was afraid of her reaction, even though he knew it wouldn't matter to her, he was self conscious about them. Still.

"Don?" she questioned.

He just shook his head unable to tell her why he didn't believe her.  It was the one thing he was still very self conscious about even though the scars had faded from the angry red it had once been for so long.  The ragged sideways U shaped scar was still ugly.  "No," he said quietly as he started to pull away.

Tightening her embrace, she wasn't about to let him get away. "Yes," she told him adamantly.  "You have scars.  I know that. And from what Stella has told me about what happened to you I know they aren't going to be pretty."

"That's an understatement," Don muttered interrupting.

Running her hand back down Don's back, Calleigh pulled his t-shirt from his pants. "Let me be the judge of that," he told him as she slowly pushed her hands up under his shirt.

"Calleigh..."

"Shhh..." she said, continuing to push her hands upward, taking the t-shirt with her until she could pull it over his head.  Tossing it aside, she wrapped her legs around him and rolled them until she was lying on top of him.

She kissed him gently before she began her sensual assault on his body, mapping it with hands and lips.  Everywhere she touched, she kissed.  She ran her tongue over his nipple giving each a nip that left him gasping each time she did it. She combed her fingers through his chest hair, following the line down to where it disappeared into his low riding pants.

Unbuttoning the soft denim, she parted it discovering he wore nothing else.  Placing a kiss on the bared skin, she rested her head on his right hipbone. She lightly traced the jagged scar with her finger tips, feeling the irregularity of the skin. "Breathe Don," she whispered kissing him.  When she was sure she had touched every bit of the scar with her fingers, she rose up enough to lean over him and repeated her inspection with her mouth. Running her tongue along the smooth skin and nibbling on the rough parts and sucking hard enough to leave a mark between the lines of the scar.

"Cal..." Don gasped a lot more breathless that he had been before.

Dropping one more kiss on him, she moved upward until she could look him in the eye.  "You are beautiful," she told him putting her hand on the scar, she added, "this just gives you more character."

"If you say so," he didn't believe her but he didn't want to argue about it either.

"I do," he told him kissing his cheek.  "Now I think you can find something better to do than worry about whether or not I find your body sexy," she suggested wiggling her hips a bit as she rested between his legs.

Don growled and rolled them so he could look down at her.  "Oh yeah..."

zzzzz

"Back already?" Calleigh asked when she heard the knock at the door.  Don left his keys when he'd gone to play basketball with Danny for their weekly game.  She was surprised, however, to see Mac standing there instead. "Mac?" she questioned.  "Is everything okay?" she asked opening the door wider so he could come in. Her worry that something had happened to Don out weighted any embarrassment she might have felt at being caught wearing one of Don's dress shirts and nothing else.

"Hey Calleigh," he greeted and then realized she might misconstrue his appearance. "Don's fine, this is a social call," he explained.

She took a deep breath and released it in a woosh of air, her relief evident. "Thank god," she said quietly and then realized her state of undress. "Umm... let me go get something else on," she said backing into the bedroom.

"Take your time," Mac said making himself comfortable at the breakfast bar. "Oh and Calleigh,' he called waiting for her to look up at him, "It looks better on you than it does on Don..." he teased.

Calleigh blushed and ducked into the bedroom.  Coming back out a few minutes wearing a pair of sweats under Don's oversize shirt, she sat down next to Mac and asked, "What can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to talk to you," Mac reached out and squeezed her hand before starting.  "I know you and Flack are still new and you have a rough road ahead of you with making a long distance relationship work. I've been there, I know the road you are about to take."

"Don told me about Peyton and what happened but we'll work it out," she told him with a little bit of false confidence.  The idea of trying to maintain a long distance scared her but what she was building with Don was going to be worth every bit of work they were going to have to put into it.

"I know you will. It's not going to be easy so I wanted you to know you had our support in whatever form we can give it," he told her. Don was his friend and if Calleigh was important to him then he'd do whatever he could to help them out.

"Thanks Mac, that means a lot especially since I know I won't have the support of the people I work with."

"You won't?" he was genuinely surprise to hear that. In the past when he'd spoken with Horatio about their people the other man had nothing but glowing comments about the people who worked for him. Calleigh most especially. "If you don't mind me asking, why? It wasn't the impression I got the last time I was in Miami."

"Things have changed since then," she told him shaking her head.  "They don't know about Don and I and I'm not telling them, at least not yet. Even before things changed, there was only one person who has ever been supportive with any relationship I was in whether he liked the person or not.  The comments, snide or otherwise get old. I want to be able to enjoy being with Don and not have to defend or explain our relationship."

"Horatio?" Mac assumed.

Again Calleigh shook her head.  "No, not Horatio.  Tim Speedle. He and I are probably like you and Stella only without the undercurrents," she told him unable to resist the gentle prodding.

"Undercurrents?" Mac asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah... the undercurrents that say one day the two of you will wake up and realize what you mean to each other, but neither of you are ready for that yet," she told him knowing she'd planted seeds for thought.

Letting Mac think for a minute, Calleigh looked over at the clock and realized she needed to get breakfast started, Don and Danny would be back soon.  "Would you like to stay for breakfast?" she asked changing the subject, letting him off the hook.

"Yeah...Sure..." he answered with a smile.

"Good, you can help me," he told him as she got up and started to walk around the counter.  "Come on..."

..:::..

Calleigh and Mac were in the kitchen with bowls of diced potatoes, chopped onions, and mushrooms.  She was cooking the small chunks of bacon while Mac was preparing the ingredients to stuff an omelet when Don and Danny followed by Sheldon burst through the door laughing and kidding with each other.

"Something smells good,"

"Breakfast,"

"Hey Mac. Didn't know you were gonna be here,"

"I came by to talk to Calleigh,"

"Not you too..."Don said suspiciously. Mac was the only one who hadn't given Calleigh 'the talk'.

"No, I came to tell her she had a job here anytime she wanted it," he told them. He and Calleigh had just got done having that conversation just before everyone came barging in.

"You did?" Don asked surprised by Mac's offer.

"Gonna do it?" Danny asked

"We'll see," Calleigh told them, she didn't want to tell any of them she was seriously considering it in the future including Don. They had just taken a huge step in their relationship and she didn't want to push it just yet.

"Do I have time for a shower?"

"Yes, there is time for all three of you to have a quick shower," Calleigh answered wrinkling her nose.

"Trying to tell us something?"

"Absolutely," Mac answered for her causing everyone to laugh.

"We get the hint," Hawkes said.  Looking at Don, "Your home, you first," he told the detective.

Don dropped a quick kiss on Calleigh's cheek before turning and heading to the bedroom and subsequently the shower.

"So what's for breakfast?" Danny asked leaning over the counter to see what was in the bowls.

"Messer is there ever a time you aren't hungry?" Sheldon asked.

Mac laughed and offered his opinion, "When he's sleeping?" he teased. Danny's appetite was well known.

"Fried potatoes with onion and bacon," Calleigh finally got to answer Danny's question.

"And omelets ala Taylor," Mac added having taken over that part of their breakfast preparation.

"Sounds wonderful," Sheldon commented.

Danny peeked over Calleigh's shoulder and saw the more the basic cooking items.

"Man if I knew Flack had a kitchen stocked like this, I'd have made him host our hockey parties."

"It's all Calleigh," Don said as he came out of the bedroom a towel till wrapped around his shoulders. "She complained about my lack of cooking utensils and went shopping,"  Looking at Sheldon and Danny, he said, "Next".

"I'm going," Sheldon said before Danny could answer.

"I can't help it.  I needed more than the one ancient scarred frying pan and an undersized pot..." Calleigh told them.

"You're spoiled... You should see her kitchen in Miami."

"Yes, I am," she said with pride. "I can't help it Timmy likes my kitchen better than his and has stocked it with every gadget known to man," Calleigh explained.

"Tim Speedle?" Danny asked as he reached to grab a piece of potato out of the pan.

Smacking his fingers, Calleigh confirmed, "That's him".

"Good man, I talk to him quite a bit," Danny said with a smile.

"Yeah he is," Calleigh agreed. "We've been friends since we both started at the lab before Horatio took over."

"Sounds like you and Stella, Mac," Danny observed.

Mac looked up quickly and glanced between Danny and Calleigh.  It was the second time that there had been a reference to something between he and Stella.  Calleigh just gave him a look and shrugged.  Once had been a fluke, but now maybe he really did have to take a look at his relationship with Stella. Looking up again he saw Calleigh and Don both smiling at him and he knew she'd shared her thoughts with him.  Smiling back, he turned his attention to their breakfast and asked, "Who wants what in their omelet?"

zzzzz

Don used his badge to get through security so he could sit at the gate with Calleigh as she waited for her plane to depart.

"Damn... I don't want you to go," Don said as he tightened his embrace as she leaned back against his chest.

"Me either," she agreed.

"Is it always going to be like this?"

Turning in his arms, she reached up and ran her fingers along his cheek. "I have a feeling it will be," she sighed.  "Don... I..."

"Love you," he finished as if he knew what she was going to say.

Calleigh smiled, "Yeah..."

"So I spoke with my Captain yesterday while you were in the shower and asked for time off next month.  I tried for 2 weeks from now but that wasn't gonna to fly.  He's willing to give me one three day weekend a month and work out which shift I start to give us the most amount of time," He told her as he leaned down to give her a kiss.

"Really? That's wonderful. I'm planning to talk to Horatio when I get home so I can have time off to come up," she told him.

"So we each travel once a month and hope nothing big comes up when you're up here or I'm down there so we have a little time together," he sighed.

 _AirTran flight 8851 direct to Miami is now boarding_

"That's me," she said sadly.

Don pulled her tight in a hug and kissed her.  "Soon," he told her before letting her go.

Patting his chest, she bent down and picked up her carryall bag.  "Soon," she echoed before walking away.  She wanted to look back but if she did she wouldn't leave New York and for right now they had to do this. This trip, while work related, told her several things.  She and Don had finally taken the next step in their relationship and in doing so she'd finally found the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with and that she wouldn't be living in Miami for much longer, in fact she wasn't sure she'd make it to the end of the year...


End file.
